LAHORE: People will denounce the political parties contesting the general elections for their “vested interests”, said Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) general secretary Farooq Tariq on Sunday.

He was speaking on the second day of the LPP’s national conference. He said leftist political parties would not stay at homes after boycotting the elections. “LPP workers will launch a campaign to prevent people from taking part in elections,” he added.

“In the coming days the protest movement will speedup for democracy. The dictatorship has now been isolated and weakened”, he said. He said lawyers’ movement was making history. He said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan had showed courage by boycotting the elections and other political party leaders should follow his example. “The LPP will have nothing to do with the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) if it decides to contest elections”, he added.

Lahore Bar Association (LBA) president Syed Muhammad Shah said, “The people have gained a leader in form of sacked chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary. People should now come on the roads for the restoration of the judiciary.”

He said political parties should boycott the upcoming elections because it was “a selection and not election”. He said, “Doors of lawyers’ movement are wide open for the APDM and Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) and they can join us by boycotting the elections.”

Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) secretary general Sarfaraz Cheema said lawyers would not bow before the dictatorship despite being treated “brutally”. He said lawyers were fighting with a mission and that political parties should play their roles in this struggle.

Students Action Committee representative Sundus Hurrain said, “The society needs a mental revolution and students are working for it”. She said people should focus on what would last. “Institutions are more important than personalities and no single person is authorised to tarnish the sanctity of institutions,” she said. “No state can properly work without harmony among the pillars of state,” she added.

The conference also unanimously passed a resolution at the end of the session for lifting curbs on the media.